Meeting documents

At the start of the meeting, the new Chairman, Councillor Tomlinson reported that he had recently met with the Leader of the Council to discuss his proposals for progressing the role of scrutiny and its continued journey in a positive way.

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The Committee also welcomed Councillor Chisholm who was attending her first meeting and thanked Jean Hunter (Interim Chief Executive) for her support over the past 9 months and wished her well for the future.

Apologies were received from Councillors Michael Green, Mick Titherington and Paul Wharton.

The minutes of the Scrutiny Committee held on 21 March 2017 were confirmed as a correct record for signing by the Chairman.

The list of matters arising from the previous meetings was now quite lengthy and contained a number of items that dated back over a couple of years. As a way forward, it was agreed to extract the relevant outstanding matters and liaise directly with the Cabinet Member to ensure a robust response was provided. Future agendas will only consider matters arising from the previous meeting and that improved ways of working will ensure that this is adhered to.

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RESOLVED - That the report be noted
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None.

The Chairman welcomed Karen Sharrocks, (Chair of the Partnership) and Howerd Booth (Community Works Manger), who were attending to update on the progress of Partnership. The Committee were informed that the group continued to work closely with its partners including this authority to successfully deliver a sustainable community strategy, develop new opportunities and lead on public services reform. The report highlighted the work that had been undertaken since the previous year that included an update on the Co-Location Project, the targeting of non-users of services within the Health Care Close to Home project, and the implementation of a plan to ensure the Partnership?s sustainability as recommended by this Committee last year. The vision for the Partnership was an ambitious one that was underpinned by the different transformation agendas of all partners and it was recognised that smart objectives were needed to monitor the strategy and ensure delivery.

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The Committee were informed that the Partnership has reviewed and developed so that it is agile and able to respond effectively to the challenges ahead. The new structure adopts a series of approaches all based around need and a Sub Group meets regularly to oversee the delivery of the projects. A Community Interest Company (CIC) is being established that will facilitate access to a range of grants and the South Ribble VCFS Network continues to be supported by the Partnership with funding to aid its development.

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The greatest threat to the Partnership, would be the potential loss of the Partnership Manager post, when funding for the position runs out in March 2018. This position is key to attracting new funding opportunities and co-ordinating the partners and project delivery that will in turn foster the sustainability of the Partnership.

Karen explained that the Partnership is made up of around 30 different partners and organisations that help to deliver projects, inform and develop plans. All the partners, including this Council were extremely committed to the work of the Partnership and supported the priorities that had been developed as part of the recent review. Jean Hunter (Chief Executive) also echoed this view by acknowledging the importance of the work being undertaken and the benefits for the residents of the borough and indicated that the Council would be considering its financial contribution later in the year that would help to secure the continuation of the Partnership and vital Partnership Managers post.

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The Committee thanked Karen Sharrocks (Chair of the South Ribble Partnership) and Howerd Booth, Community Works Manager) for attending.

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RESOLVED
1. The Committee welcomes that the Council will consider it financial contribution to the future of the Partnership later in the year.
2. That robust action plans and success measures be developed to ensure that the community strategy ambitions are delivered.
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The Chair welcomed Councillor Peter Mullineaux (Leader of the Council) and Joanne Platt (Interim Corporate Improvement Manager) to the meeting.

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In response to the Committee, the Leader accepted that the administration faced difficult times ahead and that a strong leadership was important to drive through the change needed to improve the performance of the Council. The Leader welcomed the report and accepted the recommendations. He considered it important for the authority to obtain the views of its peers and respond to them in a positive way. To help with this, the Corporate Improvement Plan had been developed with the aim of delivering the suggested recommendations. The Plan had now been in existence for three months, with most work progressing on target or complete. It was recognised that some activities were more important than others and had been prioritised accordingly.

A cross party Improvement Reference Group (IRG) chaired by the Leader had been established to monitor progress. This group is a partnership between the Council and the Local Government Association (LGA) and provides an oversight, support and challenge to the Council?s improvement and transformation journey. In addition a programme of member training and personal development activities focusing on roles and responsibilities and member conduct is currently being developed that will be rolled out over the next six months and will be underpinned by the Council?s Organisational Development Strategy.

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The Committee welcomed the steps that were being taken to improve on member/officer relations that included, the establishment of a Staff Panel for consultation purposes, improved communications, and the organisation of joint social events. There was anecdotal evidence to suggest that staff morale was improving, the receipt of regular positive feedback being communicated and an improvement on sickness absence figures supported this view. A new Organisational Development Strategy was being developed for staff and would be brought to a special meeting of Scrutiny in the near future. Members asked for consideration be given to the undertaking of a more regular employee survey to help understand the changing needs of its employees and ensure that the good progress was maintained. In addition the Committee informed the Leader of their plans to undertake a scrutiny task group to review staff morale.

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The Committee requested a progress report on the recommendations from the scrutiny review of licensing to be provided to a future meeting of the Committee and welcomed the Leaders commitment for more cross-party working, including the review of leisure services. Members had been disappointed in the recent Member Learning Hour on the leisure review at the level of information that had been provided that included old statistics and an absence of preferred options to consider. The Cabinet Member (Regeneration and Leisure) encouraged all Members to read the minutes of the Scrutiny Committee - Call for Action on the review, as this gave a good account of the Council?s current position. The Leader stated that it was important for all Members to work together on this issue, in order to make a collective decision on the future of leisure services across the borough.

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RESOLVED:
1. That a progress report on the recommendations from the scrutiny review of licensing be provided to a future meeting of the Committee.
2. Consideration be given to a more regular employee survey.
3. A scrutiny Task Group be set up to review staff morale.
4. The Committee notes and welcomes the Leader?s commitment to cross party working as part of the review of leisure services.
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The Leader and Joanne Platt (Interim Corporate Improvement Manger) stayed to answer questions of the Committee on the Councils Year-end performance. It was explained that this was the last year that the report would be presented this way and that the new style would be easier to understand.

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The report outlined the Council?s performance from 1 April 2016 to 31 March 2017 against:
? Corporate plan key targets and actions
? Budget and financial performance
? Risk management

Whilst 2016/2017 had been a challenging year for the Council, the authority continued to perform relatively well and is delivering good quality services to its residents and local communities. The report also identified those exceptional areas and require action that was needed to improve performance where appropriate.

Many of the Council?s annual targets are based on the satisfaction of its residents and historically these targets were measured using a customer survey in Gateway. Recently the LGA funded a more robust survey of residents, the results of which formed the basis of this performance report that led to some resident satisfaction targets not being met. In response to the Committee?s concern it was explained that the Authority are reviewing how it collects its data in the future and Members asked for a robust mechanism for measuring resident perception targets be developed to ensure that good customer satisfaction is maintained. Members welcomed the proposed new format for quarterly reports and asks for the member survey to be prioritised and undertaken as soon as possible.

The Committee sought to clarify the authority?s position in relation to a number of specific areas. A review of Environmental Health had been postponed as a result of the difficult circumstances that the team had endured during the period of the Licensing Review. It was felt at that time that any such restructure would have a detrimental effect upon the staff, so the decision was taken to delay. That restructure had since taken place and the expected target savings were expected to be achieved on a recurring basis. New Policy had been implemented that would help to improve the performance target of empty properties being brought back into use and the Director of Neighbourhoods provided an explanation in relation to enforcement related activities.

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The Cabinet Member (Finance) sought to clarify the Council?s position in relation to the Capital Budget underspends and the Director (Development, Enterprise and Communities) explained how the City Deal process added an additional layer of budget authorisation that made timing of available funds extremely difficult and added to the complexity of the budget process. The new Business Rates Retention Scheme (BRR) also impacted on the Council?s budget and affected the level of reserves that the Council had currently earmarked. Assurances were given that all the reserves were consistently reviewed to ensure that they were at the correct level. The Committee noted the Leaders commitment to ensure that the capital budget is effectively managed and spent in the future, although it was requested for future reports to provide greater commentary on the financial report and capital programme, in a format that could be more easily understood.

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RESOLVED:
1. That a robust mechanism for measuring resident perception targets be developed.
2. That the proposed new format for the provision of quarterly performance reports be noted.
3. That further work be planned to achieve the target for the number of empty properties brought back into use.
4. That the Leaders commitment to ensure capital budget is effectively managed and spent in future be noted.
5. That a briefing be provided to the Committee on the Business Rates Retention Scheme, capital budget and levels of reserve.
6. That the proposed member survey be prioritised and carried out as soon as possible.
7. That information on the collection tax rate for those people that are part of the council tax support scheme be provided.
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The Committee noted the Cabinet Forward Plan.

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The Committee were also informed that there would be some changes to future meetings of the Committee to ensure that Scrutiny meetings take place before Cabinet. Once agreed, the dates would be circulated.
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